The old Colt action design was a product of the late 1890's. It was complex, and required that the action be literally hand fitted. The action was built using over-sized forged parts in which a fitter would assemble the action by filing, stoning, and even bending parts to get a working revolver.
In line with the desire to make the Python the finest revolver ever made, Colt had the action even further polished and tuned to give the best possible trigger pull.
So concerned was Colt that the Python would be the best ever made, for the first two years only Al DeJohn and one other man built every Python produced by Colt.
After they burned out from the demand for new Pythons, Colt put the Python into standard production using their best people.
Colt was almost immediately flooded with demands that they offer the Python in a 4" barrel for police use, and the first 4" barreled Pythons were advertised as the Colt New Police Python, although that name was never stamped on the gun.
Soon, Colt began to offer the Python with a 2 1/2" barrel. Colt legend says that the 2 1/2" Python started off as a joke by two Colt managers who wanted to play a practical joke on a senior manager.
They had a Python shortened to 2 1/2" and showed it to the intended victim. At the time, the idea of a short barreled revolver with the powerful, heavy muzzle blast of the .357 Magnum was considered to be ridiculous.
Instead of laughing, the manager handled the snubby Python and liked the feel so well, he ordered it into production.
In time the Python would also be offered in an 8" barrel and in a short run of extremely rare 3" barreled versions.
Demands were made for other finishes beside Royal Blue, so over the years Colt offered the Python in Bright Nickel, satin electroless nickel known as "Royal Coltguard", and in the early 1980's in satin stainless steel and in bright mirror polished stainless steel, variously known as Bright Polish or Ultimate Polish.
The Python was only sold in two calibers: the standard .357 Magnum and the Colt Python Target in .38 Special with an 8" barrel.
Colt did make experimental Pythons in other calibers, including .22LR, .22 Magnum, a .256, and in .41 Magnum.
None of these guns were ever made in more than a very few experimental examples, and none were sold as production guns.
From time to time Pythons in calibers other than .357 and .38 turn up, but these are invariably not factory guns but conversions done by gunsmiths.
In the mid-1980's Colt issued a catalog featuring a pair or .22LR Pythons on the cover.
Colt announced that they'd intended to produce .22LR Pythons but after the catalog was already printed they'd changed their minds and no production .22 models were made.
One knowledgeable collector says that Colt definitely made prototype Pythons in .22LR and in .22 Magnum, but thinks that they were not functioning revolvers.
One of the most discussed Pythons are the .41 Magnum guns.
Colt made up three or four prototype .41 Magnum Pythons on the request of a big firearms distributor who wanted to offer something different.
Colt had second thoughts and decided the frame and cylinder simply weren't big enough to provide the strength needed for the .41 Magnum, so they recalled the guns and canceled the idea.
However, several custom gunsmiths decided to offer conversions of .357 Pythons to .41 Magnum.
Some of these guns were very well done conversions right down to factory style and quality roll marks on the barrel. Others are very crudely done and are easy to identify as not factory quality.
Even though Colt adamantly states that no factory production .41 Magnum Pythons were ever made or sold, people still insist that their .41 Magnum Python is a real factory gun.
A telling point is, if a Colt Historical Archive search is done on the serial number, these invariably show as having left the factory as .357 Magnum Pythons.
Production of the Python continued as a production line gun until the late 1990's.
With the Colt company in financial difficulties and having lost some of their best craftsmen, Colt moved production into the Colt Custom Shop in 1997 and made it a custom order only revolver. To highlight this move, the Python had the name "Elite" added to the barrel and it became the Colt Python Elite.
The Elite was exactly the same gun as the standard Python with only the barrel stamp being different.
Production of the Python finally ended in 2003-04.
The last manufacturer's list price for the Python was $1,150.
The last Python made was an ornate, heavily engraved and inlaid 6" gun made in 2005 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of it's introduction in 1955.
With that one-of-a-kind show model, the Python passed into history.